Interpretation of roadside PM₁₀ monitoring data from Sunderland, United Kingdom

Roadside PM₁₀ has been monitored by Partisol® at three sites in Sunderland between August 1997 and February 1998. The sites chosen were an inner city kerbside site; a roadside site adjacent to a dual carriageway on the outskirts of Sunderland with an open aspect; and a rural site. The results indicate that there is a seasonal variation in the relationship between the sites in terms of monitored PM₁₀. In the winter there is a poor correlation between the sites whereas in the summer significant correlations are obtained. Of the sites monitored PM₁₀ is consistently highest at the inner city roadside site. During the summer, exceedances of the U.K. 50 μg m^-3 standard (DETR, 2000) are associated with conditions suitable for the build-up of photochemical pollution however during the winter period exceedances are recorded during a variety of weather conditions. At the dual carriageway site PM_2.5 has also been recorded and contributions to measured PM₁₀ are 77% in summer and 68% in winter. The results illustrate a number of inconsistencies between this study utilising the Partisol® and others reporting results where PM₁₀ has been monitored by TEOM®.